The Forum

A devastating EF3 tornado ripped through St. Louis on the afternoon of May 16, killing five people, injuring 38, and leaving a trail of destruction through North City. The storm caused an estimated $1.6 billion in property damage along its 23-mile path, according to The St. Louis American, and hit some of the region’s most vulnerable neighborhoods hardest.

Mariah Richardson, a local playwright and professor of Mass Communications at Florissant Valley, is among those who live in a North City neighborhood that was impacted by the tornado. Richardson resides in the Fountain Park and Lewis Place neighborhood, where the nearly mile-wide twister tore through homes and businesses with estimated wind speeds upwards of 140 miles per hour at some points. Talking to The Forum, she described the damage as “devastating to minor” in her area: “Many people on Fountain Place have lost their homes totally [sic]. The church had massive damage. On my block on Lewis Place, there was a loss of roofs and garages and chimneys and windows. We all lost old growth trees that blocked access to the streets.” Luckily, the damage to Richardson’s house was relatively minimal, according to her.

The tornado touched down in Richmond Heights at 2:41 p.m. and quickly grew in intensity. It moved northeast through Clayton, snapping trees, downing power lines, and causing minor damage to buildings before entering the City of St. Louis and cutting across the northwest corner of Forest Park, near the intersection of Skinker Boulevard and Lindell Boulevard. Smashing through DeBaliviere Place, the storm became stronger and struck a span of North City neighborhoods between Academy and North Riverfront as it peaked at EF3 intensity. It ripped walls from buildings, flattened a number of houses, and knocked out power for days in some areas. Of the tornado’s five casualties, four were elderly residents sheltering in North City structures destroyed by the historic storm. Eventually, the twister crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois and later dissipated.

Richardson was at home when the tornado struck her area, finishing grading at the end of the semester. She recalls being alerted as the storm careened toward her neighborhood—and the time she spent sheltering in her basement: “The power went out, and I got an alert from the National Weather Service… [sic] went to my basement, where it was quite frightening because I could hear things hitting my house.” While sheltering, she became concerned about damage to her house, and went to check on it: “I peeked out the window, and I could only see the hosta in front of it, and there was a huge piece of pink insulation resting on it. I thought maybe my roof was blown off. I went to my attic and saw that my roof was still there. Some of my immediate neighbors were not so lucky.” Two of those tragically left dead by the storm were killed in buildings in Fountain Park, likely within a mile of Richardson’s home.

On June 9, a little over three weeks after the tornado, the Trump administration approved Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe’s request for a major disaster declaration, allowing residents in affected areas to apply for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The following day, FEMA announced the decision in a press release, writing, “The President's action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Scott and St. Louis counties and the independent city of St. Louis. Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.” While it was unclear at first how much aid would be provided, Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt stated in a June 10 post on X (formerly called Twitter) that FEMA will be providing $71 million in federal money. Before they authorized disaster assistance, a total of five teams from FEMA were sent to the St. Louis region to assess damage—one to the county and four to the city, where most of the damage is concentrated.

Local and state-level politicians from both sides of the aisle welcomed and celebrated the news of Trump’s approval of FEMA aid. Governor Mike Kehoe wrote in an X post on June 9, “I appreciate President Trump for calling me personally this evening to notify us that he has approved Missouri's request for a major disaster declaration in response to the May 16 severe storms and tornadoes. Missourians are grateful for the President's leadership.” St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer reposted his message, and added, “Help is on the way! I just received phone calls from @GovMikeKehoe and @HawleyMO. I truly appreciate their strong support and @POTUS' declaration. Details of @fema assistance will be announced as soon as they become available.”

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley previously accused FEMA of “slow-walking” their response to the storm in an interview with STLPR, saying, “I don't know if FEMA has processed it yet, and this gets into a big issue that I've got with FEMA right now. They are slow-walking everything.” However, on June 9—after the approval of Kehoe’s request for federal aid—Hawley took to X to thank the president, posting, “Thank you @realDonaldTrump for again approving disaster relief for Missouri. Much, much needed.”

Meanwhile, the State of Missouri and the City of St. Louis also plan to provide millions of dollars in aid. On June 11, state legislators quickly approved a bill that would provide $100 million for disaster relief in the St. Louis region, and, at the time of writing, city officials are considering a plan to use $30 million from the Rams settlement money to assist in rebuilding.

Controversy erupted after emergency sirens failed to sound in the city before the storm hit. The staff of the City Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), including CEMA Commissioner Sarah Russell, were at an off-site workshop when the tornado touched down near the city—despite forecasts warning of severe weather.

There are two buttons to activate the city’s emergency sirens: one at the St. Louis Fire Department and another at the CEMA office. Historically, CEMA has been responsible for sounding the sirens. Moments after the touchdown, being unable to activate the sirens personally, Russell called the fire department. After quickly confirming details about the twister, Russell asked the dispatcher, “You got the sirens?” to which the dispatcher replied, “Yes ma’am.” The call ended shortly after—but the sirens were never activated.

Mariah Richardson didn’t realize at first that the city’s emergency sirens didn’t sound, since she learned of the tornado on her phone: “I was not surprised that there were no city sirens because I had gotten the alert from the NWS. Not until I was talking to neighbors did I realize that the city sirens had not gone off.”

In the immediate aftermath of the tornado, Commissioner Russell was placed on paid administrative leave while the incident is investigated.

In a May 20 press release announcing Russell’s dismissal, Mayor Spencer’s office called Russell’s instructions “ambiguous” and made the full audio recording of the one-minute call publicly available to “provide the public with a more complete understanding of what went wrong on Friday.” In the same press release, the mayor’s office revealed that the button at the fire department was later discovered to be broken due to a malfunction but that it was being repaired.

Following the failure to sound the sirens, the mayor’s office announced that the St. Louis Fire Department alone, not CEMA, will be responsible for activating them in the future.

Barely a month into her first term, the May 16 tornado poses a tragic and unforeseen test for newly-elected Mayor Cara Spencer. After ousting incumbent Tishaura Jones, Spencer was sworn in as the 48th mayor of St. Louis on April 15, 2025—exactly 31 days before the deadly storm. She has spent much of her early mayorship overseeing the city’s recovery effort, holding countless press conferences on the tornado, the damage it caused, and subsequent relief programs.

In a press conference on May 20, Spencer seemed to be visibly distraught while talking about the tornado. Her eyes appeared watery, and her face appeared red. “The damage is so extensive. People have been so gracious to bring me into their homes, and… there aren’t words,” Spencer said, her voice breaking as she spoke. “Entire sides, fronts, backs, tops of homes are missing. People have wrapped their personal belongings in Saran wrap, tarps.” She continued, “It is unbelievable what people are going through right now. There are no words to describe the feeling of hopelessness.”

Richardson, too, remembers being emotionally raw for days following the historic twister. “I suffered sadness and tears for several days because of the loss of homes and lives,” she said. “The widespread damage is unreal. I was without power for 8 days and had to create a routine to get my devices charged to get through each day until it was restored. I lost all of my perishable food. The good thing is that the community came together and are still out there helping. The city government had been slow at allocating money, and [sic] well as the state.”

Those whose homes or property were damaged by the storm can apply for federal assistance by registering online at www.disasterassistance.gov, by calling (800)-621-3362, or by using FEMA’s mobile app, but “should first file claims with their insurance providers,” according to the agency. The deadline to apply for most aid is 60 days following the president's approval of the major disaster declaration—or roughly Aug. 9—according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.